Despite taking a 2-1 loss, the Twins’ ace outlasted Boston left-hander Jon Lester with eight strong innings. Hughes gave up single runs in the first and the third but went on to retire 11 straight at one point.

The only Boston runs scored on Dustin Pedroia’s first-inning double and a sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts in the third.

Lester (8-7) and four relievers combined to four-hit the last-place Twins, who lost their fourth straight to fall a season-high five games under .500, but the good vibes from Hughes’ latest breakthrough could not be ignored.

“It is a little bit of a hurdle to go to places that you don’t feel comfortable in or you haven’t pitched well in and kind of exorcise those demons,” Hughes said. “It will be good going forward when we do come back here because I know I have a good start under my belt and a ‘Why can’t I do it again?’ sort of thing. You don’t have those negative thoughts creeping into the back of your head.”

Hughes (7-3) scattered eight hits and worked out of trouble in the sixth and the eighth to lower his earned-run average to 3.09. Over his past 11 starts, dating to April 20 at Kansas City, the rugged right-hander has a 2.27 ERA and 61 strikeouts while allowing just three walks.

He went to a three-ball count just once and extended his latest walk-free streak to 97 batters. It should have ended with an intentional pass to David Ortiz with Bogaerts on third and two down in the eighth, but Hughes talked pitching coach Rick Anderson into letting him go after Big Papi.

“It shocked me when Andy came back in saying he wanted to pitch to him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s got the ball. It’s his ballgame. Take your chance. He decided he’d take a shot at David.”

Ortiz, who was batting .357 with two homers off Hughes to that point, quickly fell into a two-strike hole before flying to left on a cutter to end the threat.

The complete game was just the third for Hughes in 146 career starts. Ricky Nolasco has the only other complete game by a Twins pitcher this year.

In 10 previous outings at Fenway as a member of the New York Yankees, Hughes had a 6.56 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. That was his worst showing at any park in which he’d worked at least 15 innings.

Earlier this season, Hughes had gone on the road and won at Kansas City (5.93 career ERA), Toronto (4.98) and Yankee Stadium (4.77).

Baltimore’s Camden Yards (5.66) is the final entry on Hughes’ list of five worst ballparks in which to pitch. The Twins don’t go there until late August.

Maybe by then Hughes will have walked another batter.

“Yeah, the numbers say I don’t historically pitch well here and Toronto and those other places,” Hughes said. “I feel like I’m a different pitcher than I have been in the past. Confident with my stuff and attacking the zone, throwing strikes, and the results are obviously different.”

The Twins, meanwhile, finally snapped a 17-inning scoreless streak on a Joe Mauer double in the sixth. That scored Danny Santana from third after a leadoff double and Brian Dozier’s de facto sacrifice bunt.

Dozier, the only Twin on the current roster with more than five home runs, said he didn’t feel comfortable facing Lester despite having two hits in five trips against him to that point.

“It wasn’t a sacrifice,” a perturbed Gardenhire said. “If Dozier wants to bunt, that’s fine, but I’ll talk to him about it if I (find) something wrong, OK?”

The Twins have produced just one run on seven hits, five walks and 16 strikeouts the past two nights against the reigning World Series champions.

“Unfortunately, we’re not swinging very well,” Gardenhire said. “That’s probably because of the pitching they’ve got on that side. We just couldn’t come up with enough big hits.”

Before his double, Mauer had driven in just one run on the road this season. Overall with runners in scoring position, Mauer came in 7 for 51 (.137) with 15 strikeouts and 18 walks. His RISP average ranked 307th out of 318 major leaguers with at least 25 such at-bats.

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